The decision of the Special Court to acquit all the accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case runs counter to the Supreme Court judgement as also the Constitutional spirit, says Congress
NEW DELHI — After the special CBI court in Lucknow acquitted all the accused charged with conspiracy to demolish the Babri mosque, the Congress on Wednesday demanded that the government go in appeal against the acquittal.
The Congress has said the decision of the court runs counter to the decision of the Supreme Court of India, as the BJP-RSS were part of the conspiracy to demolish the mosque.
Addressing the media, Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said, “The decision of the Special Court to acquit all the accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case runs counter to the Supreme Court judgement as also the Constitutional spirit.”
“Every Indian, who has innate faith in the Constitution as also in the spirit of communal amity and brotherhood, expects and urges the Central and the state governments to file an ‘appeal,’ against the decision of the Special Court founded in error and follow the letter of the law and the Constitution, without any partiality and pre-meditated prejudice.
“This is the true calling of rule of law and our Constitution,” said Surjewala.
He said, “The Supreme Court in its judgement dated November 9, 2019 pronounced by five judges clearly held that the demolition of the Babri Masjid was a clear illegality and ‘egregious violation of the rule of law’.
Surjewala cited the SC judgment in para 788 XVII x, which said: “On 6 December 1992, the structure of the mosque was brought down and the mosque was destroyed. The destruction of the mosque took place in breach of the order of status quo and an assurance given to this Court. The destruction of the mosque and the obliteration of the Islamic structure was an egregious violation of the rule of law.
“Para 800 said, “The Constitution postulates the equality of all faiths. Tolerance and mutual co-existence nourish the secular commitment of our nation and its people.”
He said, “The entire country witnessed a deep-rooted political conspiracy by the BJP-RSS and its leaders to destroy the country’s communal amity and brotherhood for usurping power at any cost.
“The then BJP government of Uttar Pradesh was a co-conspirator in the designed attack on India’s Constitutional ethos. So much so that the Supreme Court was misled by filing a wrong affidavit on oath. It is only after detailed examination of all these aspects, facts and evidence that the Supreme Court held the demolition of the Masjid to be ‘an egregious violation of the rule of law.”
“But, still the Special Court found no one guilty,” said Surjewala.
Travesty of justice
Meanwhile, the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in a statement said the verdict of the Special CBI Court at Lucknow acquitting all 32 accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case amounts to a travesty of justice.
It took 28 long years for this verdict but not justice to be delivered, said the statement, asall the top leaders of the BJP-VHP-RSS who were present at the scene guiding the criminal act have been found to be innocent of the charge of conspiracy to demolish the mosque.
The Supreme Court in its Ayodhya judgment on November 8, last year had called the demolition an egregious violation of the law. Now, the Lucknow court has found the main perpetrators of this crime not guilty.
This verdict will blemish the image of India as a secular-democratic country governed by the Constitution, said CPI(M) in the statement and urged CBI to immediately appeal against this judgment.
— IANS (inputs added)
